Bruning means it this time

June 6, 2007

In case you’ve been trapped under a rock and had to gnaw off your arm to get free, you should know that Jon Bruning will be in Lincoln Thursday morning at 10:00AM to announce that he is running for the U.S. Senate.

He is apparently not going to say that he’s thinking about it. He’s not waiting to see what current Senator Chuck Hagel does. And we’re guessing he’s not going to repeat his line that he’s “a Hagel Guy” (like he did just a few months ago).

But what you may not know is that Bruning’s trip to Lincoln comes via a detour to New York City, and apparently the offices of the New York Sun. The Sun, a pro-Israel tabloid that is more than happy to take shots at Chuck Hagel, tells in an editorial today that Bruning stopped by their offices on Tuesday to let them know that Hagel is arrogant, out of touch, and has poor constituent services. (Hagel meets his match – New York Sun – 6/6/07.) Why Bruning felt the need to go to New York to bash Hagel, we’re not sure. (Well, actually, we’re pretty sure, but we still think it’s a strange move.)

Why will Bruning announce tomorrow? Well, remember that while he’s in the “testing the waters” phase of the campaign, he doesn’t have to announce how much he’s raised or who from. But once he has announced, he has to play by all the FEC rules, which means publicly reporting that info. By deciding to jump in, he must have enough money to show that he’s been successful to date and can be a credible opponent, should Hagel decide to run.

In any case, Leavenworth Street suggests that Attorney General Bruning take the following tact at the announcement tomorrow:

Talk about Jon Bruning (now how difficult should that be?).

Don’t talk about Chuck Hagel, or anyone else for that matter.

Note that you’re the ONLY ONE in the race right now, and that you want to talk about the important issues affecting Nebraskans today (blah blah blah).

If you have to address other candidates, note that you’re looking forward to others getting in the race because it’s important to debate the issues that are vital to Nebraska and the country (blah blah blah).

Resist the lure to bash Hagel. It probably shouldn’t come out of your mouth any more.

So we’re looking forward to the THIRD Bruning announcement about the U.S. Senate. And afterwards, Leavenworth Street will be giving its views on the effect of Bruning announcing now and how his strategy (particularly the Hagel bashing) will play out in this race. We’ll see you then…

This campaign will be a win-win for Jon. He is building a national network and proving his ability to raise substantial amounts of money. More importantly, he is showing voters that he has the guts to take on a giant like Hagel. Nebraskans like gutsy candidates.

The worst case scenario is that Jon continues his job as a popular attorney general with stellar name recognition. He is only 38 – four decades of Nebraska politics are ahead of him.